DiamondPheonix wrote:
As for this CO, well, I don't see any sort of synergy in its skill set, to be frank. Certainly, you can always explain away their reasons for being in elaborate backstories or devise a hyper-competent, standardised build based on competition data, but these go against AW's precedents; for the former you might as well roleplay, for the latter you are far better off playing chess.
I can see why you would think that, but I have to respectfully disagree. Sitting down to write up Dimitri, I wanted to write a CO who was all about defense. It'd be easy enough to write the 90/110 and just leave, but every fan and their mother has done that. I decided to specialize his overall unit defense by making his infantry/mechs slightly stronger to help with captures and meatshielding, and to boost his ammo and fuel, which isn't a big deal, especially on most of the maps that Dimitri is useful on, but secures the stronghold he can create with less evacuation trips to refuel/resupply.
To give him a disadvantage, I lowered his offensive capabilities, so that while he was able to keep a strong front for himself, he had a harder time breaking through someone else's. It'd be all about getting the first strike- with units that both achieve less damage than normal (due to Dimitri's firepower and defense), the counterattack is less potent. This involves more strategic, deliberate playing.
What gives Dimitri an edge is his ability to meatshield with infantry and mechs, as well as their ability to protect themselves whilst capturing better than common infantry. It's not as miraculous a boost as Sami, goddess of war, but a 6hp infantry is better than a 4hp one, and with Dimitri having an infantry heavy army, joining is always an option. Therefore, the lack of an easy OHKO for infantry is a boost for Dimitri to gain a larger financial foothold and tech up faster than his opponent (so long as they aren't broken). Infantry defense lets Dimitri accomplish the little extra more to negate the stalemate his other d2d encourages.
What really turns the tides is his COP and SCOP. The COP is built more for early battles- defense boosts for infantry strengthens capturing ability, and the capturing of the enemy is hindered with an HP hit and less defense on cities. Primarily, that's what the COP is for- the capturing game.
The SCOP is for the heat of the slog. It lowers the defense on all enemy units, giving Dimitri the upper hand power-wise since he presumably gets the extra 10% All CO Powers get, making the stat game 100/90 vs 90/120 (although I'm not sure if that's considered a bit too much.) In addition, the enemy infantry is again weakened, hindering their captures and their meatshields while Dimitri's get some of their own strength back. With this, he is able to get a giant push back for one turn.
A bit long winded, but yeah. That's my reasoning by Dimitri- he is an all around defense CO- defense in units, defense in capturing, defense in maintenance, defense in meatshields- with his powers of attrition around to push the tides without negating his weakness.